


the hands that need you

by joshllyman



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Or Is It?, Platonic Cuddling, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29730483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshllyman/pseuds/joshllyman
Summary: It’s not something Bokuto does with all his friends.It’s just...it’s nice to sleep beside someone sometimes, to have that arm curled around you, to wake up and know you’re not alone.
Relationships: Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 15
Kudos: 101





	the hands that need you

**Author's Note:**

> originally written as a ko-fi request for [ever after zine](https://twitter.com/hqeverafterzine)! give the account a follow, we're still taking requests!!

“Dude, today sucked,” Kuroo says as he comes through the door.

Bokuto lifts his eye mask and watches as Kuroo toes off his shoes. “Totally,” he agrees. “Wait, what happened to you?”

“I’ve been in lab since eight am.” He sets down his backpack and opens the fridge door. “You know there’s like, next to no food in here.”

“Yeah, I know. We need to go grocery shopping.”

Kuroo sighs and grabs a tube of yogurt. “And I’m in this chem core with a bunch of non-majors so no one has any idea what they’re doing but me which is exactly what you want when you’re working with chemicals…anyway. What’s up with you?”

“Bad practice. Couldn’t get out of my head. Ended up getting pulled and having to do laps.”

“That sucks man. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.”

Bokuto lets his mask back down over his face. Kuroo presumably eats his yogurt. When he speaks again, he’s a lot closer to Bokuto than before.

“If you wanted to nap together, we could do that.”

Bokuto lifts his mask again. “That would be nice.”

“It would be.”

“Big spoon or little spoon?”

“I’m feeling big spoon today.”

“Cool, I wanted little.”

“You always want little,” Kuroo says with a laugh. He tugs Bokuto to his feet.

No more words are spoken between them as they head into Kuroo’s bedroom. Bokuto’s already in just a pair of sweats, so he slides into bed without waiting for Kuroo to change. When Kuroo climbs in behind him, he’s shirtless too and probably in something more comfortable than his jeans, although Bokuto doesn’t turn to look. He wraps an arm around Bokuto’s waist, and Bokuto sighs, releasing the last of the tension that had held over from practice.

“I really needed this today,” he murmurs. Kuroo’s breath is warm against his neck. “Thanks, man.”

“Anytime,” Kuroo answers. “You know I’m here for you.”

“Yeah, I do,” Bokuto agrees as he pulls the mask over his eyes. “‘M here for you, too.”

Kuroo laughs softly. “I know, Bo. Go to sleep.”

“Hm, ‘kay.”

Bokuto’s last thought before he loses consciousness is that Kuroo is the best big spoon he’s ever cuddled with, which...is a totally normal opinion to have about your best friend.

He thinks.

***

It’s not something Bokuto does with all his friends.

Akaashi isn’t really into being touched, for one. He will endure a hug when Bokuto can’t contain it but generally prefers to keep his distance, and that’s totally fine. He expresses his affection for Bokuto in lots of other ways, like the little smirks he gets when Bokuto’s told a particularly bad joke, or the fond crinkle in his eyes when Bokuto turns to him and says “didja see that, Akaashi?” Bokuto has learned to look for those signs, and Akaashi has gotten really good at telling Bokuto how he feels. 

And he’s close with the rest of Fukurodani, of course. Konoha, Washio, those guys are some of his best friends, but...no, he definitely couldn’t do this with them. He’s slept in the same room as them, but that’s not the same as sleeping  _ with _ them. 

It’s just...it’s nice to sleep beside someone sometimes, to have that arm curled around you, to wake up and know you’re not alone. There had been a night where he and Kuroo had stayed up way too late and told each other the kind of truths you can only tell in the wee hours of the morning that aren’t really yesterday and aren’t really today, and Bokuto had mentioned sometimes he gets nightmares, and Kuroo had said to wake him if that ever happened. And then it did, and Kuroo had invited Bokuto into his bed like it was no big deal, held him the rest of the night as he’d shaken out the terrors. Then it became a routine any time Bokuto had a bad night. And then Kuroo came to him, once, when he’d had a rough day and wanted to be held the way he sometimes held Bokuto. So then it wasn’t just nightmarish nights anymore, but bad days, long days, midday naps when they just didn’t want to be alone.

It’s not something Bokuto does with all his friends, and he doesn’t think it’s something he’d want to share with just anyone, either. There’s something about Kuroo, something that makes him confident that he can be trusted. It’s just a Kuroo thing, just another part of their friendship. 

He thinks.

***

When they detangle themselves from each other later, they go grocery shopping. Kuroo tried to implement something he saw on the Internet where they keep a notepad on the fridge and make a running list of things they need as they run out, but Bokuto’s never been good at adhering to that, and he cooks a lot more than Kuroo does. It means their grocery trips are haphazard, and they go down the same aisle three or four times before they finally manage to get everything they need from it. Bokuto’s never minded the hour or two it takes, because Kuroo’s patient with him and only teases him a little when they have to circle back again. Kuroo pays the bill, and even though Bokuto’s pretty sure he paid last trip, he waves away Bokuto’s card. 

Bokuto turns up the radio on the way home and sings along, loud and off-key. Kuroo joins right in with him, and Bokuto’s mouth hurts from how much he’s smiling. But that’s life with Kuroo, too. He’s almost always smiling around Kuroo, which is how it should be with your best friend.

He thinks.

***

“You’ve been quiet tonight,” Kuroo says sometime later.

Bokuto checks his phone. It’s nearly one in the morning and he should probably be heading to bed, but he’s got an essay due in two days that he should have worked on before now and anyway, Kuroo’s still up studying, so.

“I’m working,” Bokuto says, pointing at his laptop.

Kuroo grins. “Since when has that ever stopped you from talking?”

Bokuto grabs a couch pillow and throws it in his direction. Kuroo laughs as he dodges it easily and shoves his notecards off to the side. 

“Really though,” he says. Bokuto looks up at him, because he sounds serious suddenly. “Practice still bothering you?”

Bokuto shakes his head. “Nah, I’m alright now. Just thinking.”

“Don’t think too hard, your head’ll combust,” Kuroo teases.

Bokuto lets his bottom lip pout out. “Akaashi is taking home the best friend title this week.”

“No, my streak!” Kuroo hops up and sits beside Bokuto on the couch. “Alright, alright, I’m being good. What’s on your mind?”

Kuroo’s close now, close enough that Bokuto could count his eyelashes if he wanted, close enough that he can examine the specks in his gray eyes. Which is something you do to your best friend...or is it?

“Have you ever thought…” Bokuto begins.

He has Kuroo’s undivided attention now. He doesn’t so much as blink as he gazes back at Bokuto, his chin resting on his hand, his legs criss crossed beneath him. Bokuto is seized with the sudden but very real thought that he wishes Kuroo’s arm was around him right now. He wishes he could walk around with Kuroo’s arm around him all the time. He wishes he could carry the warm, comforting feeling of  _ home _ that he gets when he’s laying beside Kuroo in his chest all the time.

“Have I ever thought what?” Kuroo asks.

Bokuto swallows. “I think we’re more than just friends, Kuroo.”

Now Kuroo blinks, once, twice, and then a wide smile is growing across his face. “We could be if you wanted to be.”

“I want to be,” Bokuto confirms quickly. “Do you want to be?”

“I want to be,” Kuroo says.

And then they’re staring at each other. Bokuto can feel a dopey grin spreading across his face but he can’t stop it and doesn’t want to, because it matches the one on Kuroo’s face.

They don’t have to speak as they reach for each other. Bokuto plants his hands on either side of Kuroo’s face. Kuroo wraps his arms around Bokuto’s middle. They bump noses as they approach, and then they’re giggling softly as their mouths meet for the first time. 

As far as first kisses go, it’s pretty much perfect.

He doesn’t have to think. He just knows.

**Author's Note:**

> my socials can be found [here](https://joshllyman.carrd.co)


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